Publications

09 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen’s “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

Editor's note: Every year, HBS Professor Clayton Christensen teaches students that well-tested academic theories can help them succeed not just in business, but in life. He expounds upon those lessons in his forthcoming book, How Will You View Details

14 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Measuring Social Impact

Quantifying performance and measuring results are no longer the sole domain of for-profit enterprises. Today, many nonprofit organizations also find themselves on the hot seat—not with stockholders but with donors who expect similar... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

January – February 1991
Article

The Performance Measurement Manifesto

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr.

Keywords: Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Information

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June 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Teaching Note

Atlanta Schools: Measures to Improve Performance

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This is the teaching note for Atlanta Schools: Measures to Improve Performance (HBS No. 114-001) View Details

Keywords: Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk; Balancing Innovation And Control; Strategy; Risk Management; Education Industry

02 Oct 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Is Mandatory Nonfinancial Performance Measurement Beneficial?

Keywords: by Susanna Gallani, Takehisha Kajiwara & Ranjani Krishnan; Health

Research Summary

Choice, Rationality and Welfare Measurement

By: Jerry R. Green

For the past century, economists have used the hypothesis that individual choice is based on rationality in their calculations of individual and collective welfare. The central ideas are that actual market choice reveal underlying preferences, and with a good set of... View Details

07 Oct 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Specific Knowledge and Divisional Performance Measurement

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen & William H. Meckling

December 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Opportunity International: Measurement and Mission

By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Melissa Tritter

After a "first career" in business, HBS graduate Christopher Crane becomes CEO of a worldwide microfinance network. The organization's twin challenges are: 1) developing metrics to give it an accurate picture of its situation and impacts, and 2) generating rapid... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Measurement and Metrics; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Model; Nonprofit Organizations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Financial Services Industry

1990
Book

Measures for Manufacturing Excellence

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry

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11 Dec 2012
News

Measuring Bank Credit Supply

30 Nov 2023
News

Measuring Who Moves Up

October 1995 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Western Chemical Corporation: Divisional Performance Measurement (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Roger Atherton

The president and controller of Western Chemical Corp. are discussing the best way to measure and report performance of foreign subsidiaries. One subsidiary is a joint venture with its own borrowing capacity; another is wholly owned; and a third is wholly owned and... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Financial Reporting; Performance Evaluation; Chemical Industry

2023
Working Paper

Corporate Website-based Measures of Firms' Value Drivers

By: Wei Cai, Dennis Campbell and Patrick Ferguson

We develop and validate new text-based measures of firms’ financial and non-financial value drivers. Using the Wayback Machine to access public US firms’ archived websites from 1995-2020, we scrape text from corporate homepages. We use Kaplan and Norton’s (1992)... View Details

Keywords: Value; Corporate Strategy; Accounting; Analytics and Data Science

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Article

Measuring and Managing Customer Profitability

By: Robert S. Kaplan and V.G. Narayanan

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Management; Customers; Profit

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Research Summary

Performance Measurement and Incentive Alignment

Professor Kulp is interested in how organizations use information to enhance firm performance. The manner in which an organization gathers, analyzes, and uses performance information as part of its internal governance system affects organizational success. Professor... View Details

March 13, 2013
Blog Post

Let's Be Realistic About Measuring Impact

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

"Measure impact" has become a mantra for creating social change. Claims about making a difference are no longer sufficient; evidence of how much difference you're making is now required. We should applaud this trend, because results are sometimes ambiguous and claims... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Entrepreneurship; Performance Evaluation

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December 1999 (Revised December 2012)
Background Note

Measuring Interim Period Performance

By: David F. Hawkins

Covers interim period accounting objectives, theories, and practices. Special financial analysis concerns related to this topic are discussed. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Ventures; Policy; Management Practices and Processes; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Evaluation

06 Dec 2013
News

Prescription: Measure Health Care's Real Costs

2009
Working Paper

Specific Knowledge and Divisional Performance Measurement

By: Michael C. Jensen and William H. Meckling

This paper discusses five common divisional performance measurement methods—cost centers, revenue centers, profit centers, investment centers, and expense centers—providing a theory that explains when each of these methods is likely to be the most efficient. The... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Business Headquarters; Decisions; Cost; Investment; Investment Return; Profit; Revenue; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Managerial Roles; Performance Efficiency; Strategy